Carbon-Neutral Umrah and Hajj: Islamic Environmental Ethics, Carbon Offsetting Mechanisms, and the Sustainability Imperative of Religious Mass Tourism

Abstract

The Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage system — constituting the world's most concentrated annual mass movement of people, drawing approximately 1.83 million Hajj pilgrims and 16.92 million Umrah performers in 2024 alone, with Saudi Vision 2030 targeting 30 million total annual pilgrims by 2030 — represents both one of the most profound expressions of Islamic practice and one of the most significant and under addressed sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in global religious tourism. The 2024 Hajj catastrophe — in which temperatures soared to a record-breaking 51.8°C, killing at least 1,301 pilgrims, with climate science projecting that at 2°C of warming the risk of such deaths would be ten times higher — has made the urgency of decarbonizing pilgrimage infrastructure undeniable. This systematic literature review (SLR) applies PRISMA 2020 protocols to 35 peer-reviewed publications and authoritative reports from 2023 to 2026, synthesizing five thematic clusters: (1) the carbon footprint of Hajj and Umrah — quantification, emission sources, and the paradox of expansion under climate constraint; (2) Islamic environmental ethics — the theological mandate for ecological stewardship grounded in khalifah, mizan, tawhid, and Maqasid al-Shariah; (3) Saudi Arabia's climate policy architecture — Vision 2030, Saudi Green Initiative, and their intersection with pilgrimage sustainability; (4) Islamic green finance and carbon offsetting mechanisms — green sukuk, waqf climate funds, and Shariah-compliant carbon markets; and (5) a governance framework for carbon-neutral pilgrimage — the Ihram al-Ardh (Earth's Sanctity) Framework. A critical synthesis reveals a structural paradox: the Islamic pilgrimage system is simultaneously threatened by and contributing to the climate crisis, and the Islamic ethical tradition contains both the normative resources to mandate urgent decarbonization and the financial instruments to fund it. The gap between theological mandate and institutional practice has never been more lethal — and never more urgent to close.

Keywords: Hajj; Umrah; carbon footprint; Islamic environmental ethics; khalifah; climate change; Saudi Arabia; Vision 2030; green sukuk; carbon offset; religious mass tourism; sustainability; pilgrimage; heat mortality; Maqasid al-Shariah